Welcome to the Family
by Ispell2
Summary: A nine year old with a horrible curse, a curse that can kill and destroy anyone, or anything. When Astrid finds her, things can only become more challenging for Veristek. But maybe... Maybe she'll become accustom to her killing gift. Maybe she'll be the best assassin The Dark Brotherhood ever saw.
1. Chapter 1

Veristek lived under the Gullfaust house, in their cellar, and packed herself away the hole in the corner of the food storage area. The skeevers had made it many years before she found the Gullfaust house and lived in their seldom used cellar. They were a very rich family of a husband and wife with many children, but the whole family was obsessed with money. They overcharged for their wares, gave nothing when weary travelers or beggars came by, and would have killed Veri if they knew she was there. So, she kept quiet and ate sparingly, and became very good at hiding.

Veri reached in the a barrel and took out a loaf of bread and a slice of cheese, took a dirty wooden bowl out from under cobweb, and tapped some mead out from a cask. She put the bread and cheese in the bowl and slid it in the skeever hole, and followed in after it. It was a roomy hole, big enough for four or five skeevers to live comfortably. But now their bones scattered about the hole, and it belonged to Veristek. The entrance to her rat hole was very small, but it wasn't a problem for her to get in and out of it; she was just skin and bones.

She had covered to her 'room' in cloth and bones and paint, and furnished it with things she took when the Gullfausts were out. Useless things, things they would never miss. A lamp here, a blanket there, she somehow managed to get some old skins and a few armfulls of hay for a bed. Few squatters lived as comfortably as she did. Especially ones that were only nine years old. She had always been crafty, resourceful. She vaguely remembered designing an almost undetectable trap for her father, out of a few sticks, rope, and a small piece of meat or fruit.

She liked to think that her parents would be very proud if they were watching her somehow. She curled up between an old pillow with the stuffing coming out the seams and her 'bed', and set her food on her stomach, and pulled out a dog eared copy of Chance's Folly. She loved the story, though it was rather gruesome, and gave her chills. She layed eating the soggy mead soaked bread, listening to the foot steps overhead, smug that they hadn't noticed her for three years. But something changed in the pattern of the footsteps.

She heard the door to the house open, and slowly close. _Step step step step. _It stopped. It turned toward the master bedroom, and it swung the doors open. She heard Persus Gullfaust yell obscenities at his broken slumber. "Who the hell are you?! Why are you in my house?! GET OUT!", Persus squalled as his wife stayed silent. It stayed silent. Suddenly, it leapt forward, and slashed at the figures getting out of bed, and Illien Gullfaust screamed- shortly. It became silent again. It walked out of the Master bedroom and towards the childrens room.

Veri listened closely. She heard dripping from the floor above her, and the smell was sickening. Almost like roses and chocolate mixed together, but warm, and soft. As odd as it sounded to her, it smelled... Evil. She crept out of her hiding place, and went as quietly as she could to the floor under the closet in the childrens room. The sound of five voices breathing heavily, and the smell of their sweat was going to get them killed. She couldn't take it. "_Pssst! Stop breathing so heavily!"_, she whispered under their feet.

The door to the closet was yanked open, and the children started screaming. Veri crouched under their room, her arms over her head. _One thump. _She cried softly. The ones above her screamed even louder than before. She just wanted them to stop screaming, to stop crying, to stop- and then there was abrupt silence. Whatever was upstairs was still breathing, and reeked of death, but the children... They were laying, silent, and soon to be cold on the floor above her. One had fallen on their face, and seemed to be peering down at her with dead eyes.

She looked up in terror, realizing, _she had done it again._ Her mind flashed to those five years ago, when she had done this for the first time. A more tragic story there never was in Skyrim. Veristek was a cursed child. The midwives who birthed her knew that she was going to have a horrible gift. It seemed that a Daedric Lord, no one lived long enough to find which Daedra, decided to have some fun, and curse a child who wasn't even born yet. She had always been able to destroy anything, take almost any life, at a whim. She thought she could control it.

But she was wrong. On a day that was to be a great and wonderful day; the birth of two babies. They were going to be her little siblings. She was in the room with her mother and father and the midwives, she was holding her mothers hand. And her mother was shouting, and screaming, and cursing. And her father was shouting for her to keep going. And the midwife was yelling over her to keep pushing. And soon there was one baby crying and wailing at the top of its lungs. She couldn't take all the noise, and all the pain, and all the blood in the room. She closed her eyes tight, and wished it to stop...

Veri came back to current times, to find a woman was standing almost directly over her, and she was looking down. She couldn't see her face, but she could see just the slits of her eyes. Dark, amused, and... interested. She moved away, obviously to find the door to the cellar. Veri felt cornered, but too exhausted from the energy she used to kill... Kill the Gullfaust children. _Oh Gods, why... _She thought, and then wretched. She was not the kind of person who would kill on purpose. She fell to the ground, wretching had sapped the last of her energy, and she was almost too exhausted to look up.

She looked up at the sick joyful eyes of the woman who killed the rest of the Gullfausts. And blacked out.


	2. Chapter 2

(The main characters name, "Veristek" I made up out of the words Ver, meaning 'curse' in German, and Istek, meaning 'mind' in Hungarian. Just thought I should clear that up.)

Veri slowly awoke to a dimly lit room. More of a cave, actually. She was still regaining her senses, when she realized she was not alone in the room. She moved her eyes to her right side, and saw an Argonian man sitting and reading to himself. On her left was a young girl, about her age but older. Way older. Something about her... She looked like a ten year old, and yet, the way she looked and moved, she seemed hundreds of years older than her body. Veri noticed she wasn't laying on the ground or a pile of hay, but in a bed. Tucked under a blanket of skins. She was too hot under the blankets, but was too afraid to move.

The Argonian man looked up at her from his book. Nonchalantly, the young looking girl yelled out, "Astrid, she's awake". Veri was still terrifyed. Then she realized where she was. "_By the Nines! This... This is the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary!"_, she blurted out. Veri frowned. Her voice was scratchy and her throat was sore. The woman she had seen before came in to the room, but without her cowl this time. She was attractive, and just as amused as she had been in the Gullfaust house, but now she had... _kindness_, of all things, in her eyes.

"Well, well. Look who's finally awake.", said the woman. Veri just stared. "I'm Astrid. This is Babette,"she said, pointing to the girl," and this is Veezara", she pointed to the Argonian. "Now, child, who are you?" Veri relaxed a little. If they were asking who she was, that probably meant they weren't going to kill her. At least, it means no one had a contract on her. But why would they? She's been living in a cellar and hiding in caves for the past few years. "My... My name is Veristek.", Veri croaked out, "Veri". "Well, Veri, do you know why you're here?", Astrid asked her, walking back and forth with her hands behind her back.

"Are... Are you going to kill me?", Veri croaked, terrified. Those in the room laughed. Astrid wiped tears from her eyes from laughing so hard. "On the contrary! You're here, because of what you did to my contract. As you already know, the Gullfausts were nasty old pinch pennies. Some people in the town didn't like their prices, or their attitudes, so they got us to deal with them, the whole family. It was a good deal too, they all scraped up quite a bit to compensate. And I was almost done, when you came in. The other four kids dropped, and neither of us even touched them."

Astrid leaned over and rested her hands on the bottom of the bed. "What exactly, did you do?" Veri searched for a way to explain. "I was born with it, I was cursed with it. I... I can kill and destroy by a whim. I... I never mean it to happen! It just gets so loud and I want it to stop, and it does!", Veri told her in tears. "It's brought me nothing but misery... It cost me my family... I don't want to be this!" Veri couldn't stop crying, and the words were just spilling out. Some of it was coherent, but most of it was almost impossible to understand. Veri tried to stop her tears. Astrid put her hand on Veri's arm.

Babette rolled her eyes. _E__motions_. Veri was even more afraid now. She had shown she was weak in the presence of trained killers. She must've had panic in her eyes, because then Astrid spoke softly, and a little too sweetly. "Veri, we aren't going to hurt you. Infact, i'm willing to strike a deal with you. You can stay with us, be part of the family, if you become one of us." "Become... One of you? What do you mean?", Veri asked. She scrunched up her face again. Her throat was really starting to burn. Astrid smiled. "Babette, could you go tell Festus to make something for Veristeks throat?", she asked.

"Anything to get out of here.", Babette said sarcastically. Astrid turned back to Veri. "What I mean, is become part of the Dark Brotherhood. We could use someone with your particular... talents. You can think about it, but you only have an hour to do so.", she said, standing up straight. She already knew that Veri would say yes. What else could she do, after all. Like she was going to go back to living in rat holes and eating just barely enough to keep herself alive. Astrid hadn't even gone two feet out the door, when she heard Veri croak, "I'll do it!"

(Skipping forward)

Veri's throat was getting better. For awhile it had hurt so badly that she couldn't drink anything, but now it just felt rough. In the meantime, Astrid and Festus began training her. Or, trying to train her to use her powers. Every day, they sent her in a secluded area of the sanctuary, sealed it off, and put a live rat tied to a board in the room with her. They told her to try and kill the rat without touching it. Every day she'd get a one hour break in the noon, in which she met everyone, and even managed to make friends with Nazir, and Gabriella. Even Babette was warming up to her.

But she couldn't do it. Every day she went in, and failed to kill the rat.

(Skipping forward)

Veri concentrated on the bound rat in front of her. _You can do it Veri! C'mon! _She cheered herself on in her mind. She held her breath and stared it hard until her head hurt, let her breath go, and sighed in defeat. And then she realized how she could kill it. She took a breath, and glared at the rat. She wished it to stop breathing. The rat shook, trying to turn over, and went limp. She jumped up and did a little victory dance, picked up the dead rat, and pried the door open. She almost slammed in to Arnbjorn.

"What's the rush?", he asked. "I did it! I killed it! YES!" ,she said running backwards. She ran in to the main cave. She held the rat high over her head. "I did it! I killed it!", she yelled. Veezara jumped. "That's great, Veri! This is wonderful!", Astrid said, running over to her. She took the rat and poked it, to make sure was good and dead. "Excellent. This is a great start. But right now, if you're going to truly be one of us, you need to start some _physical _training. You know, sneaking, fighting, lying. That sort of thing. We, uh, might want to get in you in better shape first. Skin and bones isn't exactly a healthy, or attractive, type of body."

"You probably couldn't even do a somersault without snapping a rib.", Astrid said bluntly, waving the dead rat as she gestured. Veri looked down at her body. True, the rags she was wearing were almost slipping off, she was so thin. "You should probably get some real clothes, too. I don't think Babette likes you enough to share. I can take you to a nearby town. Oh! Or better yet, we can go to the Gullfaust house and bring back some of their clothes! The ones that aren't blood spattered, of course.", Astrid said, lighting up.

(Skipping forward, though only a little bit)

Something was strangely different about Astrid. She was nicer to Veri than everyone else, even her own husband. Of course, Arnbjorn was pretty nice to her too, which was also weird. They weren't like that the first few days she was with them, but after a month... They seemed to like her a lot. They reminded her of parents. She felt warm and safe around them, especially Astrid. She wondered if Astrid and Arnbjorn loved her too. But she was too afraid of rejection, and didn't ask.

Then she remembered; Astrid had been telling her to stop being such a coward, to speak her mind. She sucked in a breath. "Do you and Arnbjorn have any children.?" Astrid stopped walking, and looked at Veri. She looked... sad. Something that wasn't normally in her eyes. It didn't belong there. "No. I... We weren't able." She snapped her head to look in front of her. She muttered something, and didn't think Veri heard it. But she did. And she became truly happy for the first time in years. "We have you, though. We have you."


	3. Chapter 3

(I'm churning out chapters because I have no life. Seriously, I can't even go to school. Babies immune system and whatnot. Hold on. Not like that. **I**am the one with the immune system of a baby. It was all for naught though, Stem Cell didn't really help me that much... and the only treatment that does work I can't take anymore because it did something to my kidney fluids. So, yeah. I've really got nothing else to do.)

Veri was 'very' happy. (pardon the horrible and unfunny pun. I promised myself i'd do it at least one in this story.) All the way to the Gullfaust house she smiled. She wanted to skip, but that seemed... too childish. She was going to make sure she was tough enough to make them all proud of her. "Damn!", Astrid said through her teeth, pulling Veri and herself to a crouch. Veri looked at the house. _Guards._ "What do we do?", Veri whispered. Astrid sighed. "Wait, or come back later." Astrid jumped up a little. "Oooh. I have a better idea. Veri, lets start your training. I'll help if you get caught, but elsewise, you're on your own."

"I want you, to sneak past them, get what you may, and sneak back here. It shouldn't be too hard for you, after all, you lived there for a long time without their knowledge." Veri nodded. She paused a minute to find a way to get around the investigating guards, and went out behind the rock. She crept around back, where she remembered there was a storm door was, and opened it. It led down in to the cellar, and she started down the stairs. It was very dark, there were no lights on, and her eyes took a few minutes to adjust.

They didn't before she reached the middle of the stairs and it gave way. Veri lay on the pile of blackened boards, and lifted her hand. She was bleeding, but not a lot, and was definitely going to be bruised. She picked herself up and brushed herself off, and crept carefully. She could finally see. The whole room was black and charred. _"I didn't blow out the lamp! The whole cellar is burnt!"_, she thought to herself. She crawled in to her hole, and immediately choked. She kept herself from coughing though. She was covered in soot by now, and the cellar door crumbled in her fingers, but she managed to get in to the house.

"_How__ am I supposed to get about without drawing attention now? I'm completely black!", _she thought to herself, as she climbed up the ladder. On the main level, the house was blacken and covered in ash as well. The flame downstairs must have reached to mead tap, and exploded. It was surprising that the whole house wasn't blown away, with all the alcohol they had in the cellar. Suddenly she heard voices. "I hear something inside the house!", said one of the guards. "Probably an animal. Don't bother going inside. That place is a death trap.", said his companion.

"It could be a looter, too. I'm going in.", the first guard insisted, lightly treading on the cracking wooden floor. Veri cucked behind a scarred and slightly melted suit of armor, and waited for the guard to leave. She was sweating and almost paralyzed. The guard was coming toward her! He must've seen her, because he started to run at the suit of armor she was behind. That was his mistake. The floor beneath him gave way. He yelled for his friend, and fell on to the remnants of a cask. His neck hit the stone, and she heard a _'crack'_. The guard wasn't moving.

The other guard almost ran in, but stopped himself. He went around back to enter through the storm door. Veri breathed a sigh of relief. She tiptoed out from the armor, and up the stair, and in to the childrens room. Their bodies were gone, probably buried,(and probably defecated as well). With slim hope, she opened the closet door, but everything was turned to ash or in even worse shape than her current turned to leave, disappointed, but then remembered that they must have gold somewhere.

She could buy herself something with their gold. _"__If I were a horrible miser, where would I hide my money?"_, she wondered. She snapped her fingers. _"I'd hide it in my bedroom... behind a tapestry, or in a secret cupboard!", _she revelated walking toward the master bedroom. She was careful in there; while the upstairs had been less affected by the fire, it was still a bit burnt. She looked around for anything conspicuous. She noticed something over on the wall. A loose board. Jackpot.

She went over to the wall, and pried the wood off. She could see a large bag in the wall, but not enough room to get it out. She pried two more boards off. _"I can't carry all of this. I'll go ask Astrid to help me get it out."_ She looked out the window facing the rock she was sitting by. She looked up from her nails as Veri motioned her to come inside. _"Be careful!", _Veri mouthed. Astrid walked through the door of the house quietly, and went to the Master bedroom. "There's a dead guard in the cellar, did you know that?", she whispered.

"Huh? Oh, that, no, he fell through the boards... Although... He was coming at me when the boards broke...", Veri trailed off. "Anyway, _look_!", she pointed to the lumpy sack of gold. Astrids eyes sparkled. "That's enough gold to keep us _all _living comfortably for a year!", she whispered excitedly. "Do you think we can both carry it?", Veri asked. Astrid nodded, reaching through and pulling out one end. The girls walked to the window and tossed it out. Astrid jumped out after it. She looked back up at the window to Veri. "Come on! The guard might be back with others any minute!" Veri hesitated, and put her hand on the window frame.

"Wait!", Astrid hissed. "Put the boards back on the wall! If anyone comes in here, they'll know something happened here, other than a freak accident!" Veri nodded, and put the boards back up. They weren't nailed in in the first place, and were easy to put back. She went back over to the window. She didn't move. "What are you waiting for?!", Astrid said. Veri looked at her. "Are you afraid of heights?" Veri nodded again. Astrid rolled her eyes. "Look, i'll catch you." She told her. Veri still stood afraid. "Trust me." Veri looked down, took a breath, and leapt from the window.

Like she said, Astrid caught her. "Thank you.", Veri squeaked. "Come on. We're going home, splitting this up, and then, we're going to town.", she said, grabbing part of the bag. Veri pulled up the other half, and they went on their way. A mile back, they stopped for to catch their breath. "Lucky break, the place catching fire.", Astrid told Veri. "I left a lantern burning.", Veri told her. They picked the bag back up, and went the last mile back.


	4. Chapter 4

Astrid dropped the bag, gold spilling out, and whistled. Everyone looked at her, then at the gold. It seemed even brighter against the dim cave floor. "A fire that _somebody_", She said looking at Veri," forgot to put out burned the place up pretty badly. It's a wonder the place is still standing. Well, probably not anymore. But we-, _Veristek, _ found something much better than some clothes." Those that weren't in the room already, came in when the heard the clinking of coins. _"I never realized how poor we are... I guess it's because we live like kings compared to how I lived before.", _Veri reveled.

Veezara picked up a few coins, stared at it, and bit it. "Yes... They're real. Good. Too many times have we been duped.", he said. "Where was it? Who found it? I thought that you took her to find something for her to wear?", he asked Astrid. "I found it behind some loose boards. The clothes were all burned up, and I figured since they never really used their money, they must've stashed it somewhere, and I figured they kept in their room, and I was right.", Veri interrupted. Astrid nodded, and glanced over to the entrance. A Wood Elf woman stood looking at the happy group of assassins.

She had long white hair and an old scar underneath her right eye. She was unusual for an elf. Most weren't that attractive, but her features melded perfectly. Aside from the scar and her Rosacea. (a skin affliction that makes your face red and flushed at the same time, making tiny little white spots on red. It can get pretty bad. All the women in my family have it, and since the Elf is my character, Seirye, and therefore supposed to be me, I made her have it. Luckily, I don't have it as bad as the others, so she still looks pretty!)

Veri was kind of shocked. Not many elves had human-like features. She had all the things Veri wished she had. And her eyes... Veri looked down at herself. She wasn't anything special, just a plain Nord with plain blonde hair and blue eyes. She'd rather be something interesting, like a Kajiit, or an Elf of any kind. "Make sure everyone splits this correctly", Astrid told her, walking off in the Wood Elf's direction. Veri looked at the money. "Anyone want to help me count all this so we can split it properly?", she said. Festus Krex agreed to help her, and they picked up the coins and lugged off the money.

(Skipping forward(Why can't we just use ~these and other keys to symbolize time moving forward?))

"Five hundred thousand Septims! By the Nine, this is going to be a great year! I can afford a few rare items...", Festus trailed off dreamily. "I could get some new weapons... and books!", Veezara said. "I'm getting some new equipment for my potions. My mortar ad pestle are starting to flake off and ruin the mixes. Whenever I try to make a simple poison, it tends to... explode.", Babette said, pointing at a rusty metal bowl. Everyone chattered excitedly about what they were going to get with their share.

"Of course, we're going to have to set aside a lot for new weapons, food, all the essentials.", Astrid said coming in to the room, the elf following her. "This is Seirye. Make her feel welcome.", she said. Seirye looked around at everyone, and stopped at Veri. "Yeah. Hi.", Veri said. She got up and followed after Astrid. "You're a werewolf. You must be a Companion.", Arnbjorn said. "The leader actually. Were you?", Seirye asked. "Yeah. But they didn't appreciate my... methods. You know, you seem familiar. Spend a lot of time around them? Who is it... Falus? Farquad? Farkas! That's it!", he inquired.

"Well, he is my husband, and he is the father of my child, so, yes. We do spend a lot of time together." Veri hurried away before she heard more of the awkward conversation. "Astrid, do we give her a cut too?", she asked. "No. Not this time. She's only just decided to join, after all. She needs to be here a while before she gets cuts.", Astrid told her. "I've got something i've got to do. You go back and help decide how much we leave for what we all need." "Okay.", Veri complied. "Stay safe..."

(Skipping forward)

Astrid slammed open Veri's door. "Come on, wake up, we've got things to do.", she yelled. Veri got out of bed and rubbed her eyes. "It's so early... How can you be so alert?", she said sleepily. "I'm not.", Astrid said, realizing she was in her Dark Brotherhood armor. Veri walked behind her to Astrid and Arnbjorns room, and waited as she changed in to plain dress, and let down her hair. She grabbed a small bag of coins and they left on their way. "Why are we going so early?", Veri asked. "Because the nearest town is three hours away, and the best stuff is sold off when the shops first open.", Astrid explained.

(Skipping Forward by three hours)

They walked by the stable at Falkreath just in time to see a small group of soldiers enter the city. One of them turned around and stared at them. Veri flushed and shifted nervously. "You.", he said looking at Astrid. "What's your business here?" "My daughter is sick. I'm here to get medicine.", she said coolly. Veri wasn't sure the guard was going to accept it. He nodded. "Be careful then. A house got robbed and burned down a while ago, we think they might be in the city." "Will do", Astrid said, pulled Veri by the hand into the city.

Astrid kept her hand in Veri's. "I think there's a new store down there. Let's look at it.", she told Veri. "It looks like they sell cloth and sewing materials... and clothes! Good. I had a bit of a run in with the general store owner's brother many years ago, so we don't have to go in there. Lucky week." They went in to the shop, and were greeted by a soft smell, like cinnamon, and warm colors. It was refreshing to see such colors, dark green, violet, orange, and red. Not many places sold clothes that had such clean colors. Most were tarnished, or worn, or bleached.

"Take your pick, but only two.", she told Veri. Veri looked around the shop. A warm looking red and purple dress caught her eye, and she chose a warm thermal nightgown to sleep in. "These, please.", she said with puppy eyes. Astrid smiled and they bought their goods. They left the store. "Well, look who's here.", a taunting man's voice said. Astrid rolled her eyes. "What do _you _want? Another round?", she daunted sarcastically, turning around, Veri in hand. "I'd rather not humiliate you in front of your child.", he said turning to walk away. "Well, now that I think about it...", he suddenly yelled, turning again, pulling out a dagger.

Astrid pushed Veri away as Bolund lunged at her, missing. She took a step to her side. Bolund turned to face her and lunged again. He stabbed much harder, but missed yet again,and she pushed him to the ground, dropped, and punched him in the face three times, till her hand and his face were bloody. She stood up, and Bolund laying groaning as two guards ran over to him. "It was self defense. He pulled a dagger on me.", Astrid said to the guards, walking away, grabbing Veri's hand again.


	5. Chapter 5

(Guess what? BACKGROUND CHAPTER!)

You might say that this isn't the proper thing for an orphan with such a curse to be brought up. That she should be locked away, or killed. But you are not right. Astrid had contemplated killing her after she found out what Veristek could do, but when she looked at her, she her own reflection. In a way, Veristek was just like her as a child. Afraid, unsure what to do, and wasn't able to stop herself from doing what she did best; kill. She was like a very close friend, no, like a daughter. She was everything Astrid was, and, in the end, everything Astrid hoped she'd be.

Veri had grown strong over the next few years. Under strict training, and a healthy diet, she had become healthy and slender. Her thin and round features had grown out to a beautiful collaboration. Her nose showed a strong family line of Nords, but her eyes and face's shape told a different story; Maybe some time in the past her great-great-great grandparent had married an Elf. Even the parts that don't change as you get older, were much less plain. Her hair had turned to a silken and shining silver, that glowed even in the dark, and her eyes became a piercing stormy color that looked like a battle between the softest blue and most bracing grey, clashing and changing and combining.

But, like her appearance, her mind had changed too. She was no longer timid and quiet. She knew everyone, through and through, from their parents, to their upbringing, to their preferences, and everything in between. She had even gone with Seirye many times to meet her family, and had made friends with her daughter Lucia, and her son Blaise. She was usually a friendly and kind person, but when she practiced fighting...(Her weapon of choice was a pair of sturdy one handed swords Arnbjorn had made and given to her for her birthday, once she became old enough to go on a contract)

When she fought, you could swear you saw flames in her eyes. Each stroke of the sword she made was filled with so much rage, so much fury... And yet, while it looked like she wasn't being careful or wise, she almost never missed, and didn't ever lose her balance. But, under her cunning and finesse, she had changed completely. She hadn't accepted the fact that she could kill anyone and anything she desired; She had embraced it. The Dark Brotherhood had taught her to kill without remorse; she loved every second of it.

Though, she might've made Astrid a little softer. Occasionally, for whatever reason, she would pull her aside and just spend time together. They did things a mother and daughter would do, and of course, neither told anyone else about doing such silly things. Brush each others hair, read a book together, tell stories, things that Astrid remembered doing with _her _mother, and things that Veri never got to do with hers. If you had seen them together, you wouldn't be able to tell that they weren't actually family.


	6. Chapter 6

(Just finished the Dark Brotherhood story. I actually burst in to tears when I saw what happened to everyone. I went to my house, saved, logged off, and watched the newest episode of MLP to cheer me up. And then I stumbled in to Babs Seed fanart and started crying again. FEELS, Y U NO LEAVE ME ALONE?!)

Under the dark of night, she stalked her prey, an Imperial named Acacius. He had no idea that behind the rocks he rested by, Veri crouched; waiting for the right moment to strike and slit his throat. He yawned and looked at the moons, and started to set up camp for the night. It was unusual for an Imperial to be alone, Veri was always taught that Imperials traveled in groups, like animals, because on their own they were too weak to do any damage. No one in the Dark Brotherhood liked Imperials, as you can tell.

He lay down on a spread. Veri pulled her swords from behind her back, and hesitated. _"No.__", _she thought, _"Too easy."_ She stepped out from behind the rock. _"I'll have some fun with this one."_ She put one of her swords up against his throat. Acacius scrunched up his nose and opened his eyes. He started awake and backed against the rock. Veri rolled her eyes. "You're not even going to defend your life? Pathetic. I don't even think you deserve a chance.", she said bored, cutting in to his jugular, and a trail of red blood trickled down.

"Tch Tch. I always thought you Imperials bled yellow. Ah well". With a quick movement, she hacked his arm off. He screamed. "Hmm, now what to do. Let you bleed out, or end you a little more mercifully.", she said, cocking her head to the side. She looked at his disembodied hand. A ring. She nodded to herself and put her blades on both sides of neck. She yanked them together. She looked down at her feet in disgust. "I have coward blood on my shoes. That's never going to come out." She kicked aside his head and put her swords in their sheaths, and walked away.

(Skipping Forward)

She entered the Sanctuary by morning, and was exhausted. She spent a lot of her energy trying to be quiet when she was following that Imperial, and had walked for hours on her way home. She pulled her cowl off and walked to the pool in the middle of the Sanctuary, and washed off her weapons. Nazir had been getting up early for a few days trying to find an effective way to kill a new contract, without getting caught. Babette was working on a strong invisibility potion for him. "I see you're home. How did it go?", he asked. "Pretty well. Kind of boring though, man didn't even try to fight.", she replied.

"Ha ha! Just like an Imperial. Not so tough alone." They shared a laugh. "Well, good luck.", Veri said, walking away to her room. She changed in to a thin wool nightgown and slumped over to her washbasin and splashed some water on her face. She sighed. She never really showed how tired she was. She climbed in to her bed, and curled under the blanket. She smiled. Seirye had promised to let her come see her family, and she loved playing with baby Orsola. Not to mention, Blaise was going to be there.

(Skipping Forward)

Veri woke late in the day, at 2:00. She rubbed her eyes, and did her morning routine, got dressed, and went downstairs. She grabbed a piece of bread and a couple of red apples. _"No meat. I'll see if anyone wants to hunt when I get_ there.", She thought. She strapped her quiver on, and picked up one of the spare bows and admired it. It was a lovely piece of work; a Dwarven Bow of Burning that Seirye had given to the rest of them when she found a better bow.(A Glass Bow of Shock, and it's awesome.)

She put it around her shoulder and left. She whistled happily while she walked along the path, though her dress was dragging in the dirt. She didn't want to go to town to get a new one after her last growth spurt, because of what happened the first time she went to the store, so she wore one of Astrids dresses when she went out. Unfortunately, even at fifteen, she was still pretty short. As you can imagine, Astrid was not a particularly good seamstress, and they best they managed was tying a strip of cloth around her waist so it wouldn't resemble the bag she used to wear.

Seirye had promised to hem the dress, too. Well, not Seirye, Farkas. He was actually quite adept with a sewing needle. It was hilarious to see such a huge man stitching a dress or something, but the glare he gave you if you laughed kind of killed the hilarity of it all. The main house Seirye and her family lived in was Lakeview Mansion, and it was only a half an hour away. She walked up to the house and saw that Blaise was testing a sword with his father. He wanted to be a blacksmith, and he had to test the molds her made before he presented them to his teacher.

Lucia, on the other hand was much different than him. She was more like Veri, only her weapon of choice was an Orcish Warhammer. She wasn't allowed to practice with people... And then there was baby Orsola. She was a sweet little half elf, who looked almost just like her mother, but was distinctly her fathers child. His light grey, but somehow dark eyes, I guess. Even as a little two year old, she was stealthy, but just as hyper as any pure Nord child. Farkas frequently slipped her sweet treats, but had stopped after the last time Seirye caught him. He slept in the guest room that night.

Seirye hadn't done much heroing since she had Orsola. Of course, with her around, bandits didn't surface very often, crime was down by miles, and the dragons were back down to endangered. Though Blaise and Lucia were adopted; Just like Veri, they showed many traits that their adoptive parents had. As for Farkas... Well, ever read the anime Ottomen?

(Back to the story!)

Veri had a huge crush on Blaise. Not just because he was basically the only boy she knew her own age, but because he was fun to be with. Lucia, being her best friend, but also being Lucia, teased her relentlessly about it. Veri usually punched her in the arm when she did that though. Blaise looked over at her and waved. Farkas knocked him down and laughed. "Not fair! I call for a rematch!", Blaise said angrily. "There are no 'rematches' in battle, son.", Farkas grinned. Blaise got back up and brushed himself off. "Your new sword's a success. It's much better than the last one."

"You of all people should know that mixing Moonstone and Iron would make a weak alloy.", Farkas said.

"It sure was pretty though."

"Pretty doesn't kill."

"Oh really?", Seirye said coming outside with the baby in her arms. Farkas looked like a deer in headlights. "I... Uh...", he looked at the sky. "Would you look at the time! I've got to go do a thing at a place!", he said slipping away, Seirye and Veristeks glare following him inside the house. Blaise started cracking up, and they switched their furious gaze to him. He followed after his father. Seirye and Veri laughed out loud. "You're finally here. What took you so long?", she asked, bouncing her baby. "Got in late. Would've gotten in earlier, had I know that Imperial guy was such a milk drinker."

"He didn't even try to help himself, just pressed against a rock and cried like a baby." Orsola looked up at Veri. It was her turn to glare. Veri stared at her too, and poked her in the cheek. The baby smiled and giggled. Veri sighed. "You have such a happy family, Seirye." "You do too. It's a kind of scary, unusual family, but we're all happy and... Well, I _think _we all love each other. Arnbjorn still doesn't like me much. Especially since I got cured. But i'm part of that family too, and by extension, you're part of my family." Veri smiled. "Now, come on in, Farkas can work on that dress, and I have something for you."

Veri loved Seiryes house. It was huge, and warm, and always smelled of beef and sweets. It made her sleepy and comfortable. The house was lavishly furnished with stuffed heads, handsome armor, and beautifully crafted furniture. The Dovahkiin obviously lived in comfort. "I had this old thing laying around, gathering dust. I think you should have it. It's called Dragonbane, and it's enchanted. It _should _make killing easier. I would've given you Dawnbreaker, but that sword is kind of only meant to kill evil. Which, kind of goes back on us. Not a good idea to anger Daedra.", Seirye said hander her the sword.

Veri pulled the sword half way out of the sheath and almost touched the blade. "I wouldn't do that. The enchantment is shock.", Seirye warned. "Thank you.", Veri said. Farkas walked in to the room with a basket on his arm. Veri pretended to cough. "Do you want clothes that fit you or not?", he growled. She stepped in to a clear area and lifted her arms. He pulled the very bottom of the dress up about two inches, and pinned it up, and did the same with the sleeves. Veri fidgeted. "Stay still!" She moved again. Farkas jabbed her leg with a needle. "_You _made me do that." She stayed still.


	7. Chapter 7

"Are you DONE yet?!", Veri said impatiently. It was getting dark, and if she wanted to go hunting (With Blaise), she would have to go soon. "Almost.", he said, trying to contain his temper for once. Seirye had gotten antagonized too, and turned to her. "It's not a good thing to make those doing you favors angry.", she warned, her yellow eyes glowing. Veri looked down. "There, it's done. What do you think?", Farkas asked. He had changed the dress a little, making it much prettier. Off the shoulder, puffed out around the waistline, and it fit. Too pretty to go hunting in. So much for that idea.

"It's lovely, dear.", Seirye assured him. "Pretty.", Veri agreed. Blaise had come inside. He was a Nord, and yet, he had such thin skin. He got cold easily. "You look nice.", Blaise said bluntly. Veri crossed her arms over her body, and looked down. Seirye looked from her son to her... 'sister' I guess, frantically searching for something to say. "Veri, could you go hunting with Blaise? I'm pretty sure the Sanctuary is out of meat, and I know that we are. Plus, Blaise really needs the exercise. I only know three people who are as skinny as him, and they're elves."

"I'd love to, but as you can see, this is gown is a bit too dressy to hunt in." "Just because my work is pretty, doesn't mean it isn't durable. Sewing is a lot different smithing; It's a lot easier to make something nice that won't get torn up.", Farkas groused. "I don't know...", Veri said picking up the sides of the dress. "I can let you borrow some leather armor. That'll work for hunting.", Seirye told her, handing Orsola to Farkas. She led Veri to her room, and rummaged through a chest. She pulled some old armor up and handed it to Veri. "Here. Now, go hunting.", Seirye said, and winked. Veri blushed.

(Skipping forward)

Veri leaned from the branches of a tree, her bow drawn and her arrow in place. Blaise sat on the tree branch next to her, holding his mothers new bow. Veri was poised, and ready to strike when and if something caught her eye, but Blaise wasn't ready. "We've been here for an _hour._ Are we going to catch _anything_?", he complained. "Not if you talk that loud.", she whispered, her eyes still on the floor of the woods. They sat in the tree for a few more minutes, when something moved. Her eyes snapped over to where she saw the movement, and widened.

A small herd of deer, three does, a buck, and a fawn, were walking over the fallen leaves and sticks. She motioned toward the deer. and drew her bow back. Blaise did the same. _"I'll go after the buck. One good shot to the front, and he'll a meal that'll last us weeks!"_, she thought. Blaise was not as ambitious. He steadied his aim on a doe. Veri waited for him to move closer. Slowly but surely, the herd inched its way over to the tree they hid in. She pulled the bow back a little more, checked her aim, and held it until her arm ached. She nodded to Blaise.

They let go of the bowstring almost in unison, too fast for the buck and doe to realize. Directly hitting her in the back, managing to hit her spine, Blaise had immobilized the doe. Veri wasn't as lucky. She had hit the buck in the skull, but the arrow hadn't gone in deep enough to kill him. She climbed down the tree, as the remaining doe and the fawn bolted away in terror. The buck was dazed, but after a few seconds, regained control, and charged at Veri. The raging buck was too blinded by pain and anger to make out Veri directly.

The buck ran by her, missing, and she grabbed the stem of his antlers. He was going fast, and being jerked back by something planted in his head made him come crashing hard to the ground. Before her could get back up and try to gore her, she quickly knelt by its head, and pushed the arrow in further, _hard._ The buck spasmed, bled, and became still a minute later. It was not a painless, or short, death. Blaise had finished off his doe, and dragged her over. "Wow.", he said. "You took down _that_ beast?"

"It's not that big a buck. I've seen much bigger.", Veri replied nonchalantly. She looked around. "How are we going to drag these back?"

(Skipping Forward)

Veri lugged the deer down the stairs of the brotherhood by the horns. Gabrielle helped her gut it and clean it. They had a bit of a feast that night. "Good job, Veri.", Arnbjorn growled through a mouth full of meat. "I agree. Taking down such a stag must've shows excellent skill. You've been training harder.", Astrid told her. Veri took a swig of ale. "Thanks you." "Thanks you?", Astrid said suprised. The world started to spin and she felt like she was going to fall asleep. "Are you alright? You don't look so well!", Gabriella stood up. "I'm fbine.", Veri burbled out, and passed out.


End file.
